By Liz Mulvey and Dan Hall - 26 April 2019

Changing consumer demands

Consumer purchases are increasingly being driven by ethical, environmental and sustainability considerations. More consumers are looking to change what they eat based on where it has come from, perceived animal welfare standards and how much energy and water it has taken to produce.

It’s not surprising that the trend for vegan food has spread quickly through the market, with meat alternatives and dairy alternatives proving popular with consumers. Many consumers are following a ‘reducetarian’ approach and supplementing meat in their diets with other protein sources. They are looking for more products with reduced or no meat content, but that still contain suitable protein levels.

Technical challenges when reducing meat

There are several technical challenges to consider when delivering a good quality product without using key animal-based ingredients that are traditionally relied upon by industry. These include texture, taste and appearance.

Using meat alternatives

The new product development services within our product innovation team cover both meat and non-meat products to provide the best approach to formulation and reformulation. Our key areas of new product development for meat alternatives include:

• comminuted products (burgers, sausages, fish fingers etc.)
• cured meat alternatives (bacon, hams, deli meats)

We are also exploring the use of the following different ingredients as meat alternatives:

• mushrooms and other fungi
• legumes/pulses such as chickpeas and nuts
• textured vegetable protein i.e. soy
• mycoprotein

We have a variety of equipment and expertise available to cater for a large range of product types. To find out more, or to discuss how we can help with meat alternatives, please get in touch.